From Shoreham with love

For the past 17 years, vessels have made regular trips to the Falkland Islands from Shoreham Port, carrying essential supplies to the south Atlantic.

But when the ship Marianne Danica leaves Shoreham this weekend, it will be the end of an era, because, from now on, all supplies to the Falklands will be taken down there by the Royal Navy.

It takes around 25 days to sail down to the islands and, on average, there have been five ships leaving from Shoreham every year.

Alan Motterham, general manager of Shoreham Port Forwarding, said that over the years they had loaded everything from boxes of crisps to buses onboard ships destined for the Falklands.

The ships could carry around 12,000 to 15,000 tonnes of load.

He said: "We even had containers over from Australia, via Southampton, and then they come to us for the Falklands."

The final load includes a restored Morris Minor, a Rover Freelander, compost, cigarettes and plastic tubes. Dock worker Obed Linscer said they also took animals onboard and, over the years, had taken dogs, cats and pigs, which apparently can get seasick, as part of the cargo.

Mr Linscer said it was quite a specialist job making sure all the items fitted in the ship's hold and did not crush the other items.

Mr Motterham said the workers at Shoreham Port had handled many specialist jobs, including recently putting cider vats on board one ship and an entire Tarmac factory on another.

The port's deputy chief executive, Tim Waggott, said: "As one business starts to draw to a natural conclusion, another one starts.

"We have been developing things, getting the name of Shoreham out there and letting people know what a quality service we have.

"The last quarter has been our most successful for the last six years."